Persistent slab avalanches might fail 2 to 3 feet deep on weak sugary faceted snow or basal layer depth hoar. Sunday, I triggered a large and resounding whumpf or audible collapse on a lower angled sunny slope at mid elevations in the Beaver Creek area, and I found very weak faceted snow from January the culprit. We triggered a couple more collapses yesterday in the Providence Canyon Area and some fairly long running shooting cracks, with sugary faceted snow from the cold early February high pressure system buried under about 2' of powdery snow to blame. You might trigger dangerous persistent slab avalanches in some areas remotely, from a distance or worse, from below. Whumpfing and shooting cracks are red flags indicating potential persistent slab instability. Warming in the next several days could cause the danger of dangerous persistent slab avalanche to increase

Expect to find stiffer wind slabs up to around 2 feet deep in upper and mid elevation terrain exposed to drifting. In some areas, wind slabs built up on weak sugary snow that was on or near the snow surface in early February, and instability could persist for a little while. Avoid stiffer wind deposited snow on steep slopes, and watch for potential wind slabs in and around terrain features like sub-ridges, gullies, and cliff bands. Be cautious traveling along the high ridges, since overhanging cornices might break further back than expected, and cornice falls could trigger avalanches on steep drifted slopes below.

The danger of moist or wet sluffs involving the fresh snow will increase in steep sunny terrain as the day warms up. Solar warming and possible green housing could cause the fresh surface snow to become damp and more prone to avalanching. Pay attention to signs of warming snow like stickiness, roller balls, pin wheels, or recent sluffs. Avoid and stay out from under steep slopes with saturated fresh surface snow, and be wary of potential terrain traps where loose wet snow might pile up deeply.